What do you wish people understood about your job?

[CostOfSieving]

I regularly see my profession being ripped to shreds on Mumsnet.

I find the comments are often rather ignorant, but I wonder what I don’t appreciate about other job roles.

What is something you wish people “got” about your job/industry?

Tax advisor- no, I don't tell people how to avoid tax. No, I can't tell you nudge nudge wink wink schemes that reduce your tax.

My job is to advise people on the tax implications of what they do. If they want to do something shady, in the bin they go. We do not help people with dodgy bills.

Also. When you read the newspapers, turnover does not equate to taxable profits.

That the profit margins energy suppliers have are miniscule.

We are far from rolling in the dosh.

Energy producers on the other hand....

I've had the chance to spend some time in a school recently and it honestly is upsetting to see the dedication and care shown by teachers who are having to buy resources, or not have the materials they need, or not be able to teach a really meaningful lesson in that instance because X is broken, or class is disruptive as there's no TA or SEN help.

I would love nothing more than to go into teaching but I know the broken system would upset me too much every day. I have so much respect for you all.

I work in social housing. No I can’t put you on the highest banding because you want it and no I can’t pull properties out of my arse. There is just not the stock.

Palliative care. It’s a massive burden to carry.

I work as a counter assistant (gatekeeper...) in a pharmacy ...

No I can't just get the pharmacist to sub you some pills because you forgot to order them.
No it wasn't me who answered the phone.
Yes you can speak to the pharmacist... if you take a seat (she'll try and fit you in between end of life medication, a doset box check with 25 different tablets, a hospital call back and a new prescribing write up... she might also need the loo... oh, and the stock order just came in with some vital stuff missing ) it could be 20 minutes...

"But I only need a quick word..."

Teacher of children with severe and complex needs most with ASD which affects them severely.

That there are only 8 children and 4 adults on my class for a reason, I’m not lucky I only have 8 children (8 is actually too many it should be 6).
That it is exhausting you have zero minutes of downtime you cannot leave any of them to a task or put in a DVD for 10 minutes they have no sense of danger. Constant supervision. (This is when you have so much empathy for parents).
That you are hit, kicked, scratched, spat at, hair pulled, bitten almost daily you’ll have bruises and marks on your body that are permanent.

You worry about the children all the time, you bring in snacks, clothes, toiletries, toys and other resources all out your own pocket.
And all you friends and family talk about is the holidays

Working in the NHS I have to constantly remind myself that most patients are actually really nice and appreciative. We do put our heart and soul into what we do, often go without breaks, work unpaid overtime etc, have studied for years for what we do, the responsibility keeps us awake at night etc. So when hear people grumbling about the most trivial of things e.g. MNs ‘there were coffee cups on the (practitioners) desk’ or the (practitioner) referred them/couldn’t answer their question (clearly not understanding that different professionals have different scopes of practice). When we have a patient that is clearly miffed because a clinic is running late or putting in a complaint because of the 100 life and death things that were done right in there care, one not life and death thing caused them an inconvenience. It really does massively upset us for a long time and makes us wonder why we bother. Even though yes logically it’s inevitable in any job, all the lovely patients really are what keep us coming to work, above pay or anything else

Night care supervisor in charge of a few carers and 30+ bed dementia unit.

IT / information systems design and management.

My ability to build complex taxonomies and relational / non-relational datasets, manage complex IS governance models, or even my (not dreadful) Python skills will not, unfortunately, help me help you set up your printer or smart lighting system.

Do what I do and Google / YouTube it.

That the part-time job I do is nowhere near as junior and menial as they think it is.

I used to be a librarian and got very sick of people shushing. I wish people would understand that libraries are about so much more than books on shelves.

(Massive understatement ahead.) That there's quite a bit more to being a librarian than general admin and that we're not their reception staff/photocopying staff/general dogsbodies. Also that we can hear every word of the often confidential conversations senior staff in a profession that really should know better have in the library space (yes, I have raised this more than once with my, er, manager).

I do work for a particularly toxic and badly run organisation right now though. Due to a professional empire builder a couple of years ago during COVID we are currently part of a larger team that, with a couple of exceptions only, is especially unaware of much beyond the end of their noses... aforesaid empire builder has long since moved on of course to wreak ego and havoc somewhere else! I can work from home a bit (though sadly not 100% as I could in my last job) but the days when I have to go on site as our little team is so understaffed are basically a write off due to the interruptions.

I completely understand where you're coming from! I still don't understand why beauty/Fashion/hair is seen as a dead end career path or that those who are in the industry are lacking intelligence.

Ha. There is usually an admin code, but once you’ve been doing it for years you can knock your time sheet out in 15 mins tops (also because you don’t often change task every 6 minutes).

Counsellor/therapist. No, I’m really not loaded - my hourly fee reflects lots of overheads including my insurance, professional membership, supervision and room hire. Yes, I have done a legitimate training course rather than the mythical ‘weekend on-line’. No, I don’t just sit and nod sympathetically without really doing anything, it’s actually quite hard work.

And the criticism we face when we do make those decisions…damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
I think the most underrated part of teaching is the emotional toll it takes on each of us. You can never leave your job at the door.

Ha! This resonates. I'm a project support officer now and nobody has a clue what I do.

That when I say I can’t serve you anymore it means that I can’t serve you anymore because it’s against the law. Not because I don’t like you ( though sometimes it is) but actually it’s against the law.

I know quite a few people who have to do this as part of their job but the bit that confuses me is doesn't that just waste a lot of time?
e.g. it takes six minutes to write 2 emails but then surely it takes at least 30 secs each time to log into your database and record 9:00-9:06 emailed Ms A about case ref x, Mr B in relation to his query about y, case ref z, or whatever? So a sixth of your day is wasted writing about what you did that day? Also do you have to log loo breaks? What if you just spend 5 mins chatting to your colleague?

Mine - archivist - similar to librarians there's this weird stereotype that we're socially awkward introverts whose jobs involve minimal human interaction and we just sit in basements cataloguing all day - which is a part of the job yes but loads more is helping customers do their own research, outreach with local communities, obtaining accessions from individuals and the community so often driving around everywhere getting the donations, managing volunteers, work experience and other staff, networking, sitting on committees etc. etc.! People skills are far more important than qualifications! I interact more with the public now than when I had a 'customer assistant' job title!

Also we are old fashioned and tech phobic because we just deal with old stuff - but its actually involves a huge amount of data management in terms of storage, electronic catalogues, online research, retention policies, social media etc. Pretty much all archival qualifications today include an overlap with information management/FOI/data protection etc.

As a parent I can’t begin to tell you how much admiration and gratitude I have/had to all the staff at my dc’s school, I really do think what they did and (yourself) is amazing.

that when I don't offer you child a place in school it is not personal and I can't change my mind because you and your child really want a place and you child has asthma/anxiety/mild ASD/allergies/dyslexia/friends/cousins/you're a single mum/it was your granny's dying wish - we have to follow rules and an appeal panel are the only ones who are going to listen to you and who can change anything.

and even then - none of it is personal and it doesn't mean we have judged your child in any way

Therapist.
I have never sat in a room while someone lies on a couch with me telling them random Freudian stuff. I do love my job though and I worked very hard to get where I am

I do a very senior role in a global charity. Fed up of people telling me that I shouldn't be paid and that charities should work only on volunteers.

I have 35 staff, nearly 100 volunteers, a £3m budget and have safeguarding responsibilities for the entire global operation. Believe me no volunteer is signing up to do my job any time soon.

That I have qualifications and a degree. Because I work in a contact centre people speak to me like I can't possibly understand them
Also if you're reeling stuff off, I have to type it so give me a second!